Tuesday, January 28, 2014

MDIA 1020: Interactive Storytelling (10pts)

People have come up with countless stories over the years to keep themselves entertained, teach lessons, and preserve history and/or values from fading away. For sometime the spoken word was the only way to convey such stories. Then came the age of the written word which was much more tangible and concrete. With today’s technology there are many more ways of not only communicating your story but also involving your audience. And while a story in itself can take your imagination to different places, if the same story can make you feel as if you are an active participant, it becomes so much more valuable and exciting.
            Take Peter Pan for instance. Peter Pan is a story that has been around for generations and has entertained thousands if not millions of people. There is adventure, danger and a child’s sense of wonder that entrances anyone who steps into the lives of the characters. Yet if this story were to become interactive, the world of Neverland and the Lost Boys would expand monumentally and instead of following the paths of Wendy Darling and her brothers, one could map their own adventure in Neverland. I have only ever watched Disney’s rendition of the story however from this one version of the book I would make a model of London, England, the home of the Darling Family. Allow for the audience to explore the house and their possessions. In this manner the audience can learn more about the family than what is offered by the author. One can learn the dynamics of the family and become more invested what happens to them. As Peter takes the children to Neverland audiences can have the choice to interact with the island in the avatar of a pirate, fairy, lost child, mermaid or native islander.

The varying aliases then have their own set of customs, adventures and hideouts or homes. Fairies can find out what it is fairies do and where they live; maybe follow Tinker Bell on her adventure and find out how she met Peter. The Natives can go hunting and earn their occupations within the tribes and explore the island while fighting off pirates of wild animals. Mermaids can explore the waters surrounding the island and see what creatures inhabit the ocean. There are countless possibilities that would make this timeless story new again.

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